This Brisket With Matzoh Ball Dumplings Looks Amazing

The humble matzoh ball is a dish that doesn’t have many variations – you can eat it in soup and… well, eat it in soup. But this recipe from Sara Moulton at the Washington Post takes the little dough orbs and transforms them into delicious dumplings served with a hearty brisket.

Of all the cuts of meat, brisket is associated with a wide variety of ethnicities. Texans, of course, slow smoke it in their masterful barbecue. Vietnamese people thinly slice it and cook it in bowls of hot pho soup. And the Jewish tradition is to slow cook it until it’s mind-bendingly tender.

This recipe has some interesting technical details to it – for one, you braise the brisket, let it cool and then refrigerate it overnight before skimming off the congealed fat and using to make gravy, then slicing the meat and putting it in a Dutch oven to complete cooking. That kind of two-step process is a pain in the butt, but the final result is bursting with deep, earthy mouth pleasure.

As for the matzoh balls, they’re first boiled the traditional way before being given ten minutes to simmer in the gravy to add a shot of flavor.

The chef recommends serving this meal with a side of glazed carrots for sweetness, but however you plate this one your family is guaranteed to be impressed.